GM . . . FINALLY THE GOOD NEWS

General Motors announced that it earned $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter, bringing annual earnings to $4.9 billion, twice what the company made in 1993. TIME Detroit reporter Joe Szczesny notes that while the earnings are very good news, they are not quite what GM insiders had expected. "GM is now making an average profit of $100 a car in North America, " he says. "Chrysler is making ten times as much. GM still has a long way to go in matching the competition for efficiency."